Fastener feed means for fastener driving devices



Feb. 8, 1955 L NG 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES Original Filed Dec. 12.1945 3 Sheets$heet 1 mga ngoa fa; M.fi2u

ATTORNEY-S Feb. 8, 1955 J. c. LANG 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES Original Filed Dec. 12,1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .98 4,9 38 51 Fig.5.

ATTO RNEYS Feb. 8, 1955 J. c. LAN 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES IMZNTOR 5 Fi 7 65ATTORNEYS United States Patent FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVINGDEVICES Joseph C. Lang, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Bocjl Corporation,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Original application December12, 1945, Serial No. 634,537, now Patent No. 2,580,444, dated January 1,1952. Divided and this application December 31, 1951, Serial No. 264,294

5 Claims. (Cl. 151) This invention relates to the art of fasteners andis for a driver for driving a succession of fasteners one at a time.

I have heretofore devised a tack type of fastener of tack-like form,this fastener having a cross bar forming the head, and having a shankwhich is turned down at one side of the cross bar intermediate the endsthereof. An especial advantage of this Ttack, aside from the fact thatit provides a very effective tack for upholstering and other purposesbecause of the long head which will not pull through the fabric or othermaterial which is fastened down, is that a succession of tack blanks maybe economically formed from a narrow ribbon of rolled metal. This isdone by slitting the metal diagonally from one edge toward the centerand then extending the slit longitudinally, preferably along the centerline, for the length of the leg. A small fraction of an inch past theend of this slit the next similar slit is formed. Thus a succession ofleg portions are provided which are separated from the ribbon of metalat the other side of the center line throughout their length at onepoint only, the diagonal slit forming a point on the free end of eachleg portion. By turning the legs so formed from their original planethrough an arc to a position perpendicular to said plane, each leg isthen in position to be driven. The continuous ribbon of metal at theother side of the center line is severed at points intermediate thediagonal slits transversely of the long axis of the ribbon to formindividual complete tacks. All of this is disclosed in a copendingapplication filed by The object of the present invention is to provide aconvenient, compact and novel driver for receiving a roll of metal soslitted and feeding it to a driver, the leg forming portions beingsuccessively turned down into perpendicular position, the machinesevering the successive blanks and driving the completed tacks. Thusinstead of requiring a mass of loose tacks which must be individuallyformed, individually handled and driven, the machine of the presentinvention requires only a roll of the prepared strip or wire, convertingthis slitted strip into tacks along with the operation of driving. Thisis important in many industries also from the health standpoint in thatit eliminates spitting the tacks, i. e., the practice of holding anumber of tacks in the mouth and removing them one at a time. It is notonly more desirable from a health angle, but a worker can operatefaster, position the tacks more accurately, and avoid possible minorinjury from the hitting of the fingers. Incidentally, also, it savesnicking and marring furniture to which upholstering is being applied byavoiding the frequent hitting of the finished woodwork by theupholsterers hammer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novelmechanism for indexing and feeding the fastener strip throughthemachine, the feed mechanism engaging notches in the edge of the stripof connected fastener blanks.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No.634,537, filed December 12, 1945, and issued as U. S. Letters Patent No.2,580,444 on January 1, 1952.

My invention may be more fully understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fastener driving machine embodying myinvention;

2,701,360 Patented Feb. 8, 1955 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section in theplane of line Illl of Fig. 1, the view being a transverse horizontalsection;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of that portion of the cover plate whichextends along the bottom of a machine, and which is broken away in Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the entire cover plateremoved from the machine;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section in substantially the plane of line VV ofFig. 1, looking up, the view being a fragmentary view;

Fig. 5a is a transverse section in the plane line V a of Fig. 7, lookingdown;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation similar to a portion of Fig. 4,but with the driver element depressed to the full limit of its movement;

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical section in substantially the plane ofline VIl-Vll of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the initial step in beginning theoperation of the driver with a new strip of fasteners;

gig. 9 is a similar view showing the succeeding step; an

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the operation which followsafter the first one.

In the operation of the machine as hereinbefore indicated, a strip ofconnected fastener blanks is utilized. This strip is best shown in Figs.5, 8, 9 and 10, and is the subiect of a copending application. The stripcomprises a continuous ribbon or narrow fiat strip of metal designatedgenerally as A. This ribbon has a succession of regular spaced notches0: along one marginal edge, the forward wall of these notches beingperpendicular and the other wall being sloped so as to cooperate withcorrespondingly shaped pawl or ratchet teeth to be hereinafterdescribed. The opposite edge of the strip is slit diagonally from theedge toward the center, and then the slit extends in a longitudinaldirection. With reference to the direction in which the strip travelsthrough the driving machine, the longitudinal portion of the slitextends rearwardly from the diagonal portion. In the drawings thediagonal portion of the slit is designated a and the longitudinalportion is designated o The slit a separates the leg forming portion aof the strip from the body of the strip, the diagonal slit a separatingthe leg at one end and forming the point of the fastener. The notches aalong one edge of the strip are preferably staggered with reference tothe slits a and also define the points along which the ribbon isseparated in forming the individual fasteners.

As shown in Fig. 8, the front end portion of the strip has theleg-forming element cut away so that on the first operation with eachstrip, an incomplete fastener is formed. This is for the purpose ofenabling the strip to be properly handled in the machine, and indexingthe strip for its initial operation.

In completing the fastener, the leg-forming portion a must be swung inan are about an axis transverse to the length of the strip downwardly toa perpendicular position and then the strip is severed and the blankwhich has been so formed is driven into the material into which it is tobe entered.

In the present machine, with the first operation of the driver orplunger which serves to drive the staple, the blank head having noattached leg portion, which forms the leading end of the strip, isremoved. This is shown in Fig. 9 where the detached head portion isdesignated a and the succeeding head portions are designated a Insevering the incomplete blank as shown in Fig. 9, the leg-formingportion a of the succeeding blank is bent down to the perpendicularposition. With the further operation of the machine, the strip feedsforward the full length of one blank, i. e., the distance betweensuccessive notches a. On the succeeding operation this blank with theturned down leg is then driven'as shown in Fig. 10 and the leg-formingportion a of the next succeeding blank is simultaneously turned down.This sequence of operations follows thereafter during the continuedoperation of the machine until the length of the staple strips has beenexhausted. Thus with each driving operation one blank with the bent-downleg is separatedfrom the strip and driven while the leg-forming portionof the next succeeding blank is bent down; and

at the time that the driver raises above the fastener strip, the stripadvances one notch, or the length of one blank, to bring the nextsucceeding'blankthe leg of which" has been turned'down,-intopositionunder the driver. I

With this general explanation of the operations-Which take place, theconstruction-of the machine may'now'be easilyunderstood.

Referring to the drawings, the machine comprisesa frame constructionproviding atits forward-end'a-vertical slide-way in whicha-reciprocating plunger operates. This plunger, designated generally as2in Fig. 1, has a terminal 3' at its upper. end which may be hit with ahammer in a portable machine, or which may be depressed by any suitableim'pact mechanism when'the unit is incorporated in a non-portableo'rportable power operated' machine; At the opposite endof the frame theconstruction" provides a circular chamber designated generally as 4 forreceiving the fastener strip which is coiled up within it, theconvolutions' of the coil of the strip being designated generally as A.Intermediate this chamber or magazine portion and the forward portionwhichhouses and provides a slide for the plunger, there is a connectingbody having an opening 5 thereth'r ough with a cross bar 6' above theopening, the under side'of the cross bar being preferably scalloped toprovide a con"- venient grip for the fingers of the operator, while theopening 5 provides clearance for the fingers.

The frame of the machine is formed by one main plate, designatedgenerally as'-7, a'ndwhich is best shown in Fig. 4. The main plate'7 ispreferably formed as a casting with the opening 5 formed therethrough,and

with' a part 6 forming part'of the grip 6. Atone end itis provided withan upstanding flange 8 of generally circular contour. Within thiscircular flange 8 there iscast an'upstanding hub (see Fig. 2) 9;This-hub 9 serves to'rotatably support a removable flanged spool orsleeve 10 on which the convolutions'of the fastener strip A" are. wound;Extending forwardly under the'open por-- tion 5': the main'casting is.provided with a flat panel or surface-11 on which-a block 12 carryingthe strip feeding mechanism is removably secured. left-hand. end of thecasting, as viewed'in Fig; 4, there is avertical portion 13' in whichthe plunger 2 is received.

The casting is-provided with a number of s'c're'who'les which arethreaded to receive screws 14: which hold a complementary cover plate 15in place; Thecover-plate 152 is of less extent than the main casting. 7-and serves to'cover only'the front orlefthand' portion of the maincastingtogether with part ofthe feeding mechanism, and extends back onlyto the magazine-forming part of the machine; This cover plate does-notnormally have to be"removed, beingformed in the manner describedonly"for convenience inassembly, and to provide access to the interior of themachine for purposes of replacement or. repair of parts There isa-secondcover plate designated generally as 16- which is preferably stamped fromsheet metal, and" which encloses the chamber4 of the magazine, and it'has a forwardly extending portion'16b' that extends. horiz'o'ntallyunder the lower edge of the cover plate 15, covering the lower portionof the feeder to be hereinafter described. As shown in Fig. 3, theextreme forward end: of this extension 165 has a tongue 16c thereon,

which, as indicated in dot-ted linesin Fig. l, extends'under a-partofthe cover plate 15' to hold this narrow horizontal extension of thecover plate in place.

For detachably holding the: cover 1 6 in position, a screw'-17 passesthrough the hub portion 9 and through a central opening in the coverplate" 16. Threaded'onto this screw is' a nut 18-having a radialextension 19% The cover plate 16 has aslot 20' therein extendingoutwardly from the opening through which the screw L7passes. Toremove'the cover plate16 it is merely necessary to turn the nutfrom theposition shown in Fig; l to a position where the extension 19' is inline with the'slot 20, ,at which timethe nutwillbei ineffective to holdthe coverplate in place, and it maybe removed by lifting it away.- from-the machine. When it i's'lifted" away sothat the At the forward orcover plate 16 entirely clears the nut 18 with its extension19, thecoverplate 1'6- may be slidrearwardly until the tongue is clear of thepart of the machine with which it is engaged. Thus the cover plate 16can be very quickly removed, and it can be reapplied with equal facilityby merely engaging the tongue in its proper place, swinging, thecircular end of the cover back in position over'the magazine, allowingthe slotted opening to pass over the key'nut, and then tightening thenut down on the screw.

The foregoing description relates to the general organization of themachine which is the present preferred embodimenLbut it willbe'understood that this is merely illustrative of the machine. Themechanisms for driving thefasteners and feeding, the strip may now bedescribed in detail. The plunger 2 has-laterally-extending flanges 201at each side of its forward edge, these flanges being guided inchannels-Zeiformedin' the main casting, and the forward part of thefixed cover plate 15, as best shown in Fig. 5. Near'the lower endofthe'plunger or driver is a rearw'ardlyextendingi cam 21; the effectivesurface of which is designated 22, and which slopesupwardly andrearwardly as viewed in Fig. 4i

Below this cam theplunger is'provided: with a terminal portion adaptedto perform theoperations hereinbefore described. The terminal portionincludes'an off set tongue 23 (see Figs. 8, 9 and 10) for engaging theleg-forming portion of the fastener and bending itdownwardly, thisportion also being shownin Fig. 4'. Itis to the rear and offset from themain driving tongue 24 which has a rib 25 ononesurface thereof. It isadapted to apply pressure to the head of the fastener while the rib 25is adapted to be directly over the leg and apply pressure likewise totheleg of the fastener. The tongue 24 projects downwardly a distancesubstantially below the tongue 23: It should also be mentioned that therear corner designated 24a of the tongue 24 forms one elementof ashearfor cutting'oif the formed blank from the strip.

The plunger is also providedintermediate its ends with notches26 and 27between which are serrations 28 (see' Fig. 4) for cooperation with aspring-centered pivoted pawl 29. The purpose of this pawl is to preventthe plunger or driver from moving in either direction unless its fullstroke in the opposite direction is completed. This is a well-knownmechanism in movements ofthis' kind, and constitutes'no part, per se,of'the invention. The plunger carries a headed bolt 30 on its rear. facewhich forms an abutment to limit the upward travel of the plunger, and atension spring 31 (see Fig.v 7) connected' between. a pin 32on'theplunger and a fixed anchorage-33 on the cover plate 15 serves toreturn the plunger to the uppermost position shown in Fig. 4 after. theplungerhas been driven'downwardly.

A's hereinbefore mentioned, the part. 11 of the main plate carries afoundation. plate 12 on which the strip feeding mechanism is mounted.The plate 12 is. ofta thickness somewhat greater than the width of thefastener strip. It is provided with a groove 34. along its. entirelength, this. groove being. open on. that face off, the plate 12' whichis turned toward the reinov-ablecover; 16. The depth. of the groove is.equal. to the full-width of'the fastener strip A, and the width of'thegrooveis;

just' slightly greater than the thickness of. the strip. A so that asshown in Figs. 4', and 5, the end of. the strip may be entered in therear 01'- right-hand-end. of the groove as viewed inFig. 4 and the strippushed. forward until the forward end of the strip is under thetongue24of the driver. that the edge containing.- the notches a are turned outwardly, that is, toward the open edge of the groove3'4.

Mounted on thelower portion of. the block 12 is a U-shaped piece- 35with the legs of the U turned up wardly. and extending across the slot34. On top of the U-shaped piece 35' is a U-shaped flatspring 36 having.arms 37 that overlie the upwardly-extending arms of the: U-shaped piece35. There are pins 38 on the arms 37 of the spring, whichpinsslidablypassthrough: the arms ofthe piece 35, and as shown. in Fig.5, press intoen gagement with the notches a in the fastener strip.Thesepins are in the shape of pawls having a square forward face andarearwardly sloping. face. As is clearly evident from Fig.- 5, thesepins enablethe: strip to be pushed forwardly through the groove 34,. butthey. spring. into), the notches and acting as pawlst'o prevent movementof The strip is inserted in the machine so strip in the oppositedirection. Once the strip has been engaged with the spring pressed pinsor pawls 38, it cannot be pulled backwards.

Mounted on the plate 12 above the slot 34 is a slide plate 40 having aslot 41 through which passes a fixed guide pin 42. The slide plate 40also has two other slots 43 through which pass guide pins 44. Tensionsprings 45 are stretched between the fixed pins 44 and anchor pins 46 onthe slide. The purpose of these springs is to urge the slide plate 40toward the left as viewed in Fig. 4. This slide plate has a cam engagingroller 47 at its upper forward corner which bears against the slopingcam surface 22 on the plunger and which is urged into engagement againstthis cam surface by the springs 45 which pull the slide toward the leftas viewed in Figs. 4 and 6.

When the plunger 2 is depressed, the cam 22 engaging the roller 47forces the slide plate 40 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 4. When theplunger moves upwardly, the springs 45 serve to return the slide plateto the position shown in Fig. 4. This motion is clearly shown in Fig. 6,where the plunger is in its lowermost position and the roller 47 is atthe end of the cam 22.

The slide plate 40 has two downwardly-extending arms 48 that also extendover the groove 34. There is an inverted U-shaped fiat spring 49 on theslide plate 40 having arms 50 thereon. These arms carry pawl-like pins51 similar in all respects to the pins 38 on the fixed spring 36. Whenthe slide 40 is cammed back, the pins 51 ride out of the notches, andalong the edge of the strip, the resilience of the arms 50 permittingthe pins to yield. When, however, the slide 40 comes forwardly, the pins51 will catch in the notches a on the strip and feed the stripforwardly.

Thus with each operation of the plunger downwardly, the slide 40 movesback while the fixed pins 38 prevent the strip from moving back, and onthe return movement of the slide 40 when the plunger raises, the stripis advanced.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 5a, the plate 12 extends forwardly to the frontof the housing and there is an opening 53 in the housing through whichthe strip may be pulled, should it be defective. One surface of theplate 12 provides a shoulder 52 against which the downwardlyturned legof a fastener abuts, as the strip is fed forward, thus providing both anindexing stop and a guide for two surfaces, that is, one face and oneedge of the leg of the fastener. The leg, being thus confined, issupported along with the additional support hereinafter described,against buckling. When the strip A is shoved into the machine, theleading edge of the strip is under the tongue 24 of the driver. Thefirst blank end is cut off, and on the next feeding of the strip, theleg portion of the succeeding blank engages shoulder 52 to limit thestrip.

For initially supporting the leg on its other two sides during thebeginning of the driving operation, there is, in the lower part of thehousing, a transversely movable guide block 55 (see Fig. 7) with anotched toe 56 that is beveled on its upper edge, this block having ahollow extension 57 that is slidably guided in a bushing 58 threadedinto an opening in the lower part of the cover plate 15, and a spring 59is operatively interposed between the bushing and the extension. The toeof the block is normally positioned in spaced relation to the rear ofshoulder 52, so that the leg of the tack, when the tack is driven, isbetween the toe 56 and the shoulder and the edge of the leg between theblock 55 and the face of the plate 12. The top of the guide block isbeveled at a steep angle, so that when the lower end of the driver hitsthis surface, the block will be pushed back, i. e., toward the left asviewed in Fig. 7, to allow the driver to come down until its end isabout flush with the bottom of the machine. However, at the time theguide block is pushed back, the fastener will have penetrated part wayinto the substance into which it is driven, and the leg will beunsupported by the toe only in the final stages of driving, at whichtime the short undriven length needs support no longer.

When the driver raises, the guide block springs back into position. Itshould be noted in Fig. 7 that the beveled surface of the guide block isbelow the point of the leg of the fastener next succeeding, so that theguide block offers no obstruction to the advancing of the strip offasteners.

The supporting plate 12 has a hardened steel block 60 secured theretowith the top of this block forming an extension of the lower side of thegroove 34. The upper forward corner 61 of this block just clears theshoulder or corner 24a of the driver, forming the other jaw of the shearfor severing the fastener to be driven from the strip.

The lower end of the driver may, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, project downfurther at the edges than at the center, so that when the fastener isbeing set at the end of the driving operation, the two ends ofthe crossbar forming the head of the fastener will be pressed down and eliminateany tendency for them to spring up. One of these projections, previouslyreferred to, isv marked 24a and the other is designated 24b in Fig. 4.

In operation, assuming a strip of fasteners to have been entered in themachine, the first head of the strip will have no leg-forming portion(see Fig. 8). The strip will be pushed through until this end is underthe driving plunger. Then the plunger is operated. The incomplete blankis sheared off and driven down. As the driver moves past shearingposition tongue 23 on the driver, offset as it is to engage only theleg-forming portion, bends the leg of the next succeeding blank down, asshown in Fig. 9. During the down travel of the plunger feeder plate 40is cammed to the right as viewed in Fig. 4. Then the plunger raises.Springs 45 pull the feed plate to the left, advancing the fastener stripuntil the newly sheared end hits the shoulder 53 (see Fig. 5). On thenext operation of the plunger, the driver tongue 24 cuts off the secondblank with its now depending leg, drives it, and the leg portion of thenext blank is at: the same time turned down.

It will be observed in Fig. 6 that when the slide plate is cammed backand the fastener cut-01f on the down stroke of the plunger, the end ofthe strip bears against the rear edge of the tongue 24, so that when theplunger starts to move up, the strip cannot feed forward. Hence the cammay move up and disengage the roller 47 on the slide plate. Then whenthe end of the plunger clears the strip, the springs 45 act to snap thestrip forward, giving a positive feed and driving the leg againstshoulder 52 to make sure it is vertical and square against the guideshoulder. Thus the operation is repeated, a strip containing severalhundred fastener blanks being accommodated in the machine.

The end of the driver guide may be shaped in various ways wheredesirable, to enable the driver to work in close to corners.

The strip feeding arrangement, cooperating with notches on the edge ofthe strip with the pawls working perpendicularly to the edge is ofconsiderable importance in simplifying the feeding mechanism and makingit compact and yet positive. If the feeding mechanism fails, the plate12 with all of the feeder parts may be removed and replaced by a similarunit.

The machine provides a relatively simple, cheap driver, positive in itsaction for feeding, bending the legs, cutting off and driving thesuccessive fastener blanks accurately, speedily, and easily.

While I have shown and described one preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that various changes and modificationsmay be made therein.

I claim:

1. A fastener driving machine having a driver, a magazine for holding acoil of prepared flat strip with regular notches in one edge thereof, areciprocable feeder positioned fiatwise of the edge of the strip and ina plane at one side of the edge of the strip and having means thereonengaging the notches in the edge, for advancing the strip from themagazine to the driver, and means for reciprocating the feeder.

2. In a machine of the class described having a driving plunger and amagizne for holding a prepared strip with regular notches in an edgethereof, a feeder for moving the strip step by step to feed the endthereof under the driving plunger, the feeder comprising a slide plateperpendicular to the flat face of the strip, pawl means on the platemovable in a direction normal to the edge of the strip into and out ofthe notches, and means for operating the feeder in coordinated relationto movement of the plunger.

3. In a machine of the class described having a driving plunger and amagazine for holding a prepared strip with regular notches in an edgethereof, a feeder for moving the strip step by step to feed the endthereof under the driving plunger, the feeder comprising a slide plateperagvnasisov the'p'late movahle'in" aidi'reet-ion' normal to the edge'of the stripinto" and out-= of the notches; means actuated W. theplunger fer operating-the feeder:v and detent means on the machine alsomovable in a direction normal. to

of the strip is provitled with' a successiomof Iongitudijnall'yextending leg form'i'ngjelements'and-the other edge is provided with"ratchet-like notches; the strip moving through the channel with thenotched edge exposed at one side 01? the channel; feed means-movableback andforth along the channel and engaging said"not'ches= inthe ed'geof the strip-hi e direction-normalto=theedge of the st'r-ip-foradvancingth'estr-ip stepby step, and means for impartingb'acl'candforth' movementto said feed means.v

5. A machineof the class described-having a channel 2'0 118216545fon'receiving' aistrip ofQfastener blanks in' which one edge of thestrip i'sprovided* with a succession of longitudinally extending l'egformingelements and theother edge is provided" with; ratchet-like"notches, the'- strip' moving through the channel With tll'e"notchededgeexposedat oneside of the channel, a feeder movable'back'andfbrth" along the notched edgeofthe'-strip"h'aving pawl elementsI therein for engaging said matches to advance the strip:

step by step; and other meansenga'ging said "notches*' in the strip forholding" the sttip' agaihst movement i'n-one' direction; andfmeans-tor'imparting a back and -forth movement to the feeder:

Refrences (Iite'd in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS210,511 Felt'er Dec. 3"; 1878 3 121550" Brock Feb: 17', 188-5 6 l 3-',5'69- Holi'hs Nov; 1} 1898 6"53,-772" Hobbs July 17; 1900 779,680Wiseman Jan. 1 o;'1905' l*,388 ,8 46 Brock AIgg. 30, 1921 V Crofoot'Feb: 23-, 1932 2,174,708 Sears Oct; 3,, 1939 2,274,559 Nitkey" Feb. 24,1942

